Mind and Body
by Kalira69
Summary: An attack targeting the mind has a different effect on Keith than anyone could have predicted. (Written for Pidge Ship Week, Day 8)


Written for Pidge Ship Week, Day 8: [free day]. I used it for Feral.

I started this almost two weeks ago, but it's 10pm on the 24th and I only just finished it. For much of the intervening time I had no idea how this story would end, to be honest, especially without it becoming a much longer piece than I had time for before this deadline, unfortunately.

* * *

Pidge rubbed her head, cringing at the throb across her temples. And- " _Ouch!_ " There was a raw scrape there. She drew her fingertips over it lightly and found some splintered remnants of the Olkari circlet caught in her hair.

"What happened?" Pidge mumbled, pushing herself up weakly on one elbow. She tried to remember what had been going on and who had been near her. "Hunk? Uh. Keith?"

A low, dangerous growl sent a thrill of instinctive panic down her spine and Pidge stiffened, scrambling backwards. She had stifled herself automatically at the noise, but whatever the animal was it had obviously already heard her. . . "Keith? Hunk?" Pidge called again, uncertainly. "Anyone else down here but me and you, growly thing?"

The growl came again, louder this time, and Pidge's face screwed up as she kept moving backwards, her whole body aching. She found the wall at her back, rough and crumbling, and winced as she scraped her fingers, but tried to pull herself up, staring into the dark.

Dark.

Pidge fumbled along her armour. She had no idea where her helmet was, with its convenient floodlights, but her armour lit up itself, as did her bayard - which would be tricky to fight a wild thing off with, but better than nothing.

Pidge found the light she'd been carrying first, and brought it up, hoping to see what she was dealing with - and hoping that neither Hunk or Keith were down here, because if they were they'd have _answered_ . . . if they could. Pidge switched on the light and squinted away from the sudden flare even as she heard a sharp snarl and a scrabble of rock.

Pidge forced her stinging eyes to focus, which made her head pound even more, but she couldn't see anything that could have made the growling noises. Maybe the light had spooked it off entirely. She could hope. Surely it wasn't _invisible_. She sighed. That was actually possible with her life these days, she had to admit, even if not too _likely_.

A shift in the shadows made her tense, sweeping the beam of her light over as she passed it into her left hand. A low hiss, and she shuddered, the little hairs on the back of her neck prickling. Her fingers froze as she reached for her bayard. Something dark shifted in the shadows, impossible to make out, and gleaming golden eyes.

A Galra soldier?

Pulling her bayard to her hand, Pidge quickly dismissed the idea - there would have been _some_ sort of spoken threat by now, probably, and a Galra soldier wouldn't have been frightened by her light. More likely it was an animal.

Pidge's breath caught as the light glinted off something white and shiny in the shadows. She glanced reflexively down at her own armour, which reflected the exact same way. _Damn._ "Hey. Hey, Hunk? Keith?"

The glint moved, the creature growled quietly, and the golden eyes came closer. A dark head, deep purple and black, slid warily out of the shadows and Pidge's eyes widened.

"Ke- Keith?" Pidge said shakily, eyes wide.

Keith's lips pulled back in a snarl that bared teeth that were far sharper than they should be, gleaming bright against the dull purple fur now covering his face. He put one hand down in front of him - sharp new claws scraping on the rock floor of the cave - and prowled towards her, huge, pointed ears flicking. He growled again, deep and terrifying.

" _Quiznak._ " Pidge said with feeling, bracing herself against the wall. "Keith, babe, come on. . ." she said coaxingly, almost on autopilot, mind busy trying to come up with _what the hell_ could have happened to do _this_ to him. "This isn't you." she said firmly, meeting his eyes.

Keith's eyes narrowed, his ears folding back along his head. He glared at Pidge as he prowled even closer, slow and sure.

Pidge brought her bayard up, cringing. She didn't _want_ to strike out at Keith - but if he attacked her, she would have no choice. Pidge's stomach knotted.

She would have to defend herself, yes, but . . . Pidge wasn't actually sure that she _could_ against Keith - not because she would hesitate, if she had to, she had to, but because Keith was fucking _fast_. And would he be stronger like this than he normally was? Galra were stronger than humans, but Keith was already stronger than he really should be for a human of his size and build; his body had obviously changed now, somehow, but he wasn't any bigger, like a true Galra, there might be no more muscle on his frame. Too many variables, no way to be sure.

Keith slunk towards her, a slender, tufted tail lashing behind him - his armour, Pidge noticed, surprised, had shifted to accommodate it, the black bodysuit extended and patches of gleaming white and red armour wrapped around the length of his tail, only the tufted end bare.

"Keith." Pidge said as firmly as she could, glancing away just enough to see the rocks tumbled beside her without looking away from her boyfriend. She wedged her light at the top of a heap and ran her fingers over a medium-sized rock, eyeing Keith and wondering if throwing it at him would spook him back again. It might not keep him away, but if her _light_ had spooked him. . . Tossing a rock might startle him back as well. If he backed off it would give her more time to think - and maybe for the rest of their team to find them.

Pidge winced, narrowed her eyes, and threw the rock, trying not to hit Keith in the _face_ , at least.

She needn't have bothered. The improvised missile had barely left her fingers before Keith was gone.

Pidge hadn't even _seen him move_. She scanned the cave quickly, but only realised where he had gone when he _dropped down from above her_. Pidge yelled, swiping instinctively with her bayard, but she just missed him and then her wrist was pinned in a grip that probably would have hurt if her armour weren't protecting her, and her body was pressed down, wedged against the wall and the floor with Keith's weight on top of her.

"Keith-" Pidge barely got that much out before Keith was leaning into her face, his teeth still bared though he was curiously silent now. His ears flicked and he took a shallow breath, nose brushing her cheek. Then his grip loosened, to Pidge's surprise.

Keith shifted over her, pulling back enough that Pidge didn't feel half crushed any more, and cocked his head. He pressed his nose against her cheek and breathed again, deeper this time, and Pidge giggled at the ticklish sensation of his fur and his breath against her skin. Keith jumped and tensed, his eyes wide when he lifted his head again, and Pidge had to struggle not to outright laugh in his face.

Keith _chirruped_ , and Pidge lost the battle against laughter. This time it didn't startle him, though he regarded her with a quizzical look. Pidge raised her left hand, which he had already released, and he eyed it as she moved but didn't knock it away as she brought it towards him.

"You'll jump into my bayard, but laughing frightens you?" Pidge asked. She feathered a touch along his ear and it twitched under her fingers. She pushed his hair back and stroked his cheek, which felt _weird as hell_ with fur overlying the familiar sharp planes of his face, and realised that his fur wasn't so much _dull_ as it was covered with fine particles of dirt. Probably they both were, all over.

Keith pushed his cheek into her fingers lightly, with a low murr of a sound. Pidge couldn't help a smile, especially as she stroked gently and Keith's golden eyes - so different from the steely grey-blue they usually were - half-closed with pleasure. He pulled back off her a little more, and Pidge saw that his tail was lashing almost lazily.

"You are going to be lucky if after this I don't make jokes about you being a cat for _months_." Pidge told him, tweaking his ear. Keith bared his fangs at her for the pinch but didn't growl, fortunately. Pidge hadn't really thought about it before doing it, even though only a few minutes ago she'd been legitimately worried he might try to kill her - she was too used to casually sharing space with Keith, elbowing or prodding being taken with equanimity.

Keith growled quietly, but he folded his arms and lay on the floor against her legs, leaning close. He sighed, tail curling up towards his back, then lashing out straight again. He leaned his head against the base of Pidge's ribs, below the hard chest plate of her armour, his eyes closing partially.

Pidge reached for him again, tentative, and Keith flicked one ear meditatively and allowed her to touch him again. She patted his hair cautiously. " _Do_ you recognise me?" Pidge asked softly, not really expecting a response.

Keith heaved a sigh, his brow creasing, and rested his cheek against her belly.

Pidge pushed herself up a little, until she wasn't quite so awkwardly pressed in the angle of the wall, and Keith tensed, looking up with bright, sharp eyes. Pidge's breath caught and she made an attempt at a soothing noise.

Keith huffed and when she didn't move again, he looked away, cheek resting comfortably on her stomach.

Pidge rubbed the bridge of her nose, wincing. She let herself relax for the moment. There was nothing in the new cave but the two of them, and it was too big to yet be concerned about a lack of air - even if there was no open space to the surface, which with the newly-tumbled rocks seemed likely. Maybe if her head stopped hurting so much, she would be able to think better.

Maybe some of their teammates would find them and Pidge wouldn't have to try and dig herself out, with the uncertain accompaniment of her currently rather unpredictable boyfriend. She sighed and closed her eyes against the dull pounding in her temples.

It did actually seem a little less than it had been when she first regained consciousness, but it was difficult to tell. Pidge wasn't sure what jolted her up again, if it was the grinding noise of rock and dirt shifting, or the sudden shove as Keith yanked away and shoved himself up into a wary crouch.

Pidge hauled herself up onto her knees and looked for her bayard. With it safely in hand she was a little more sure, but she tried to pull Keith back further away from the area of the cave where dirt and smaller rocks were beginning to tumble down. Keith growled low in his throat, but he moved back with Pidge's pull on him.

"Look, I don't see why _this_ particular hole in the ground is any more likely than any of the _other_ heaps of rubble!"

Muffled, but it was definitely Lance's voice. Pidge relaxed a little.

"Because my _sensor array_ says there's someone down there!" Hunk replied stoutly, and Pidge's lips curled.

"Calm down!" Shiro shouted across them both. "We'll check here, and if we don't find Keith or Pidge we will keep looking, but Hunk's device is our best bet to start looking."

"Hey up there!" Pidge yelled, and promptly started coughing from the dust in the air.

"Pidge?" Shiro called back, while Pidge was still coughing. "Are you alone in there?"

"I got two lifesigns!" Hunk put in, almost indignant.

"No!" Pidge managed, and then yanked back out of range as some of the ceiling tumbled inwards. She coughed again, swallowing up her words as she tried to add that Keith was with her, and shielded her face from the debris filling the air.

They'd see soon enough anyway.

Pidge looked at Keith, who was _not_ bothering to shield his mouth and nose, even though his mouth was open as he snarled at the ceiling. And he was. . .

Well, he was immediately recognisable as himself, yes, but he wasn't what the others would be expecting, and if they saw Galra purple fur before they saw his white and red armour. . . Pidge tugged at him again, just as she saw people coming through the new gaping hole in the ceiling, and slid in front of him defensively.

"Look it was a perfectly reasonable- Pidge get down!" Lance yelled, his bayard forming in his hands even as he brought it up to his shoulder.

"No!" Pidge yelled back, drawing herself up a little more. " _Look_ at him!" she added, gesturing behind herself at Keith.

"Is that-"

" _Keith?_ " Hunk said, sliding down behind Lance, who yelped, startled.

"What happened?" Shiro hurried down, sliding over tumbling rocks. "Are you all right?"

"I'm okay. I'm . . . not sure what happened to Keith." Pidge said, mouth twisting. "Hold on!" She held out a hand, warding Shiro off when he made to continue rushing towards them. "He's- He's not himself. Whatever did this," she tipped her head towards her boyfriend, "it knocked him for a loop upstairs, too. He hasn't spoken since, and-"

Keith growled warningly, one hand coming up to rest on Pidge's shoulder.

"Put your bayard away, man!" Hunk scolded, nudging at Lance. "It's Keith."

Lance startled, dissolving his bayard quickly and putting it away. "Right, right. Um- What the quiznak _happened_? Keith's all. . ."

"Galra-y. And purple. Like, that is _way_ more Galra than he usually looks." Hunk said, shaking his head. "Right?"

"I _don't know_ , but can we get out of this hole before we start debating it?" Pidge asked, frowning. "I've got a headache and we've _both_ inhaled at least as much dirt as we've got all over us and I'd like to be back on the Castle. I . . . guess the battle's over?"

"Yes, the blast that caused the ground to collapse was the death throes of the last ship." Shiro confirmed, still frowning. "Come on, let's get you out of here."

Pidge nodded and stepped forwards, only for Keith's grip to suddenly tighten, keeping her from moving. She turned to look at him over her shoulder. "Keith, come on. We're just leaving this," she paused, making a face, "mess."

Keith growled again, his eyes narrowed. Pidge reached up and caught his hand, which she couldn't pry off her armour. She sighed, pulling at Keith and trying to drag him forwards with her. "Come on. It's safe out there, too, just come with me."

Keith's low rumble sounded displeased, but his hand slid off Pidge's shoulder and he let her coax him onwards. Shiro looked sad, watching him, reaching out with one hand and then stopping himself.

Pidge gave him a half-smile, then reached out to clasp his hand briefly. Shiro smiled at her and squeezed back before giving her a nudge towards the rocky slope. Hunk helped haul her up it, and Pidge realised she was bruised and sore, probably from being caught under a rockslide in the first place.

"Thanks, Hunk." Pidge said, then groaned, stretching. Keith surged up on his own, taking the slope in a couple of bounds that looked almost effortless. "Quiznak, your armour looks _awful_ , how are you okay in there?" she observed as she saw Keith standing in the bright sunlight.

Shiro followed him up, slower, shooing Lance on as well. "It might be best to get the cracked plates off him as soon as possible." he suggested, looking Keith over.

"If he'll let anyone _do_ that." Hunk added, eyeing Keith warily.

Pidge moved forwards. "I bet he will." she said easily, narrowing her eyes as she approached Keith. "Want this off?" she asked him, reaching for what was left of his breastplate. Keith docilely allowed Pidge to get it off, even when she had to prod him into moving his arms and tilting his head.

Shiro moved closer, then stopped himself. He looked kind of. . . Pidge handed him a piece of armour. "I'm sure you won't mind if Shiro helps, right Keith?"

Keith huffed, but he didn't do more than twitch - no growls - when Shiro came closer, helping to pull off the broken pieces of his armour. He flicked an ear at Shiro and watched him curiously, tail curling, and when Shiro bent to get one of the leg pieces off, leaned closer to him, ears pricked as he took a slow breath.

The rest of it was discarded quickly, and Keith shook himself once the last piece was gone - the one on his tail, which he had tugged against her grasp as Pidge pulled the armour off. Pidge wondered if the new fur was uncomfortable under the clingy bodysuit that formed the first layer of their armour.

Shiro contacted Allura back on the Castle and directed them back to it, bringing up the rear of the group. He moved forwards to lead them somewhere once they were actually inside.

The whole way to the Castle Keith had trailed along behind Pidge, though she checked occasionally to make sure that he was staying with them. He didn't seem terribly inclined to wander off, even once they made it to the Castle.

Pidge rubbed the back of her neck, kind of wanting out of _her_ armour - and a bath. She felt gritty even _under_ her bodysuit.

Suddenly Keith _snarled_ , thick and fierce, and Pidge startled, whirling towards him. Just as she looked at him, Keith's tail jerked free of Lance's loosening grip and Keith, teeth bared in a wide snarl and ears pinned back, lunged for him. Pidge's eyes widened, and though she scowled at Lance-

Pidge jumped, catching hold of Keith around the shoulders, though she knew it was hardly going to _stop_ him - Keith could pick her up and throw her in the middle of a battle, hardly slowing in the process. Keith _did_ stop, though, and cocked his head, teeth still bared but growl quieting to a low rumble, to look her in the eye.

Pidge squeezed him tighter, trying to pull him backwards only to find it roughly like trying to drag one of the pods across its hangar. Keith snorted and turned his attention back to Lance, not knocking Pidge off his back but apparently ignoring her. He lashed out with one hand and Lance yelped, darting backwards and nearly stumbling as he hurriedly tried to get out of range.

"Someone _help me_ before he decides to actually eviscerate Lance or something!" Pidge yelled, her forearm catching against Keith's throat. Her whole arm thrummed with the force of his snarl as he slashed one clawed hand forwards.

Shiro's tech hand crossed in front of Pidge's nose, catching hold of Keith by the back of his bodysuit - maybe actually the back of his neck. Pidge sighed with relief, letting herself slide down and away from Keith as Shiro pulled him back.

Keith huffed, hissing softly as his growl died away, his tail lashing and his ears folded out sideways, almost flat but not pressing back against his head.

Shiro made a low chiding sound and pulled Keith away further, lifting his boots briefly off the floor. Pidge eyed him carefully - he looked sulky, but Shiro had hold of him and Keith was no longer fighting to get to Lance, though he did glare - and then turned towards Lance herself, eyes narrowing.

"Why the _quiznak_ would you do that?" Pidge yelled at Lance. "You're lucky I realised and _caught_ him - you're lucky he was moving slowly! Why the-" She growled softly, though it was much less impressive than Keith's new growl. "If you try anything else _stupid_ to provoke him while he's like this I won't bother to stop him again." she snapped.

"Hey! It was just an impulse!" Lance yelled back, frowning and crossing his arms. " _He's_ the one who-"

Pidge took a step towards him, hands curling into fists. "You deliberately attacked him - maybe I shouldn't just _leave it to him_ to teach you not to do that." she grit her teeth and raised one fist as she stepped towards Lance.

" _Pidge._ " Shiro said sharply. "Lance, sit down. Keith, stop growling. _No one is provoking anyone!_ " he ordered, pointing Lance towards a bench and releasing Keith with a light pat at his shoulder. Pidge realised he _had_ started growling again, though she hadn't heard when. "Pidge. . ." Shiro looked at her again.

Pidge growled again, but turned away from Lance and stomped over to a bench of her own. A good distance from Lance's, because she still wanted to snap at him.

When she turned to seat herself, she was a little surprised to see that Keith was right behind her again. She eyed her boyfriend, but settled onto the bench with a huff.

Keith made a low considering sound, then heaved a deep breath and dropped to the floor by her feet, curling one arm across her lap and leaning his jaw against her left knee, apparently content to ignore her armour, which couldn't be comfortable. He tipped his head down and sniffed a little, then relaxed with a sigh, heavy against her legs.

Pidge rested a hand on his hair, and he hummed, left ear flicking almost distractedly.

"Good, now if everyone can _stay_ calm," Shiro said warningly, bracing his hands on his hips, "we can discuss. . ." He glanced at Keith, his mouth twisting. "What has happened to Keith."

"It didn't hit Hunk this hard." Lance said, frowning and glancing at Hunk.

"Yeah but," Hunk shrugged, "I'm all human. Keith is . . . not."

Pidge stroked Keith's hair automatically as he began to shift restlessly. He made a soft purring sound and leaned harder into her lap, laying his head down, cheek against her thigh. Pidge let her hand slide down behind his ear and settle on his neck, and Keith purred again, deeper, his body relaxing.

"It does seem fairly obvious that either Keith's mixed blood or the more animalistic nature it grants him, even if normally hidden, was a factor in how intense the effects of the attack were on him specifically." Allura said from the doorway, surveying them. "And may be exacerbating it even now."

"Even if the effects are more severe," Shiro's eyes slid back to Keith, his brows drawn together with worry, "is there any reason to believe that they will not wear off on their own with Keith as they did with Hunk?"

"Not precisely." Allura inclined her head. "It might offer more-"

"What _happened_ to Hunk?" Pidge asked, frowning. "We," she lifted her hand to gesture at Keith, and he tensed slightly, ear perking up, "didn't see it, since we were stuck in a _hole in the ground_." she pointed out. Then she petted the edge of Keith's ear and replaced her hand on his neck. He sighed, his ear flicked once more, and he went almost still again.

The tip of his tail was twitching, Pidge saw, but it was a lazy, slow movement, and he seemed to barely be paying attention to the rest of them even as they talked about him.

"He was knocked out by this bright, colourful blast of energy that hit where the three of you were working!" Lance spread his hands out illustratively. "And then he woke up and he was _really weird_ and kept saying things that didn't really make sense. And he cried on me." He glanced at Hunk. "I wasn't quite sure what had happened to him for a while."

"I felt really loopy and dizzy and I _thought_ I was making sense." Hunk offered, nodding. "Like, everything was completely reasonable in my head as I was saying it."

"It hit the _three_ of you?" Allura asked for confirmation, pointing at Hunk and then at both Pidge and Keith. "Pidge, were you. . ."

"No. I mean, I don't think so. I woke up with a splitting headache and scrapes from where my Olkari control circlet must have broken in the ground collapse." Pidge frowned. "But I didn't feel anything other than a headache, plus scrapes and bruises from when we got buried."

"Then it didn't affect Pidge, but it clearly has Hunk and Keith." Shiro said, frowning. "Is there any reason it should have had such a selective effect? Especially if Pidge and Keith were much closer to each other than either was to Hunk, given the rockslide only trapped the two of them."

"I wasn't that far away until the ground started to give way." Hunk supplied. "It just . . . split right between me and Pidge. I fell the other way and lost sight of them both pretty quickly, though. And then I blacked out, so I don't know what happened."

"The Olkari circlet itself may provide the explanation for Pidge being spared." Allura suggested. "As it channels directly into the mind, it may have taken the brunt of the attack and left Pidge herself unaffected when it broke under the assault. The circlets are very durable, it is unlikely that the rockslide broke it . . . at least if Pidge's head is also unbroken." She smiled slightly.

Pidge opened her mouth, then closed it. "Right." She shuddered. She hadn't thought of that, and it was not a pleasant thought to entertain.

"Can you tell us what happened to Keith after the attack?" Allura asked, eyebrows arching. "If it affected him any differently, or how the effects came on, it might provide some useful information."

Pidge frowned. "Sorry, I was knocked out in the fall - or maybe when the attack hit and my circlet broke. When I woke up it was dark and there was something I couldn't see growling at me . . . and then I found my light and, well." She looked down at her boyfriend. "Keith was like this." She paused. "He didn't recognise me at first, I think he was going to attack me."

"Then maybe he's already getting better!" Hunk said hopefully.

"I'm not . . . sure." Pidge said, thinking hard, trying to remember what Keith had been like in those first few moments. She'd been distracted by shock, and her head had been pounding too hard to think easily. "He recognised me as soon as he got close, really." As soon as he had gotten _very_ close, his face right up in hers, when he had-

Pidge looked at her boyfriend and wondered if he had recognised her from _smelling_ her.

She shook her head. Keith was _weird_ generally, and Pidge knew she hardly had room to talk by many peoples' standards, but this . . . animal in her boyfriend's skin - not even that, since he'd _changed_ so much - was . . . strange.

"If he _doesn't_ revert on his own, would the cryo replenisher pods be able to help fix . . . this?" Shiro asked, lips pursing as he folded his arms across his chest.

"It is . . . possible." Allura said, but she didn't sound very certain.

Pidge bit her lip. She. . . She glanced down at Keith, lightly rubbing her fingertips up and down his neck. She wanted for this to be another ridiculous thing that happened along the way of their mission, like _glowing programmed spores_ \- although that had also been _awesome_ \- and not- not something _terrible_ , like losing Shiro again, or when Hunk had been poisoned and even the cryo replenishers had been a dubious proposition with the toxin racing through his blood, or when Allura nearly killed herself holding open four wormholes at once trying to get multiple groups across two star systems to safety.

Pidge made herself focus as Lance suggested they get Keith into the cryo replenisher as soon as possible, and Allura demurred, saying they should at _least_ wait for a time to see if Keith would recover on his own. Hunk suggested going back to find the weapon - or whatever - that had caused the problem.

Pidge was in favour of at _least_ going back to destroy the thing, but even with her and Hunk working on it together she wasn't confident that having it would offer much help with Keith _now_. Especially without a way to test it safely and figure out what its effects were.

She told the others so, frowning, and was drawn into an argument about it with Hunk which Allura wound up almost completely taking over.

Pidge stiffened suddenly, looking down to where her fingers rested on Keith's neck, still rubbing up and down lightly. Her fingers had been nestled in short, velvety fur and now rested on familiar warm, smooth skin.

The purple fur was gone - the _tail_ stretched across the floor, curled by Keith's folded legs. The oversized, almost feline pointed ears were gone, and Keith's ruffled, messy hair parted around his once more perfectly human ear.

" _Keith!_ " Pidge cried, only for it to catch quietly in her throat.

"Pidge, I agree with your point but it-" Shiro's voice faltered. "Keith!"

"What, what's mullet-brain doing _now_ \- Oh!" Lance's tone changed quickly. "He's back to normal!"

Pidge gently raked Keith's hair out of his face and leaned over him, peeking at his face. His eyes were closed and he was breathing slowly, his arm lax across Pidge's lap. He looked like he was asleep.

Although. . .

"Keith?" Pidge said, nudging him worriedly. "Babe are you okay?"

If Keith's _physical_ changes were gone then _probably_ his mind was back to normal as well, but it was really. . . They didn't even know for sure that the only thing that had affected him had been what hit Hunk - or even if that had affected Keith at all.

"Wake up, Keith." Pidge all but ordered, anxious.

Keith stirred, huffing quietly, and his eyes opened.

"Keith, are you all right?" Shiro asked immediately, moving closer but not quite to their side.

Keith lifted his head, rubbing his face with his left hand. He didn't pull away from Pidge, still leaning against her legs. "I'm . . . fine?" he said, and he sounded a little uncertain but he also sounded _like himself_ , words and all.

"Oh, brilliant." Pidge breathed, wrapping her arm around Keith's shoulders. "Don't fucking do that again!" she added, almost a snap, though it was hardly like he'd chosen _willingly_ , or like he could avoid it if something crazy happened again.

". . .Pidge?" Keith asked, tilting his head. His arm squeezed tighter over Pidge's thighs. "I-" His brows drew together. "Wait."

"Do you remember what happened?" Hunk asked, inching closer. "I did."

"Do you remember being quiznaking _crazy_?" Lance asked, waving a hand. "More than usual. For sure."

"I remember you _pulling my tail_." Keith growled in a passable shadow of the tone he'd had earlier, his eyes narrowing.

"What?" Shiro said, voice hard.

"Why do you think Keith suddenly wanted to kill him?" Pidge asked, scowling. "It wasn't _random_." She huffed. "He had a good reason."

"Without Pidge he would have _done_ it, too." Hunk said, bringing both hands up in front of his chest.

"Okay, okay, we both did things that _maybe_ we shouldn't have. . ." Lance said calmingly, making a quelling gesture with both hands.

"I don't know about that." Pidge said darkly, automatically reaching for Keith's shoulder.

He bumped lightly into Pidge's legs, then rose to his feet, a little less gracefully than usual. "Yes, I remember what happened. Did . . . anything else important happen?" he asked, rubbing his brow and wavering a little.

"Nothing that can't wait for us all to get cleaned up, rest for a little while, and treat any injuries." Shiro said decisively. "Now that we are all back to normal otherwise."

"That sounds wise." Allura agreed before anyone else could offer a comment. "You all look like you could use a long bath, at least." She eyed Pidge, then Keith. "Although some of you more than others."

Pidge rolled her eyes, but rose alongside Keith. "Yes, now that we know everyone's fine, unless there's anything important. . ."

"I intend to use the time while you refresh yourselves to get the Castle back out of the atmosphere." Allura said, which might explain her more lenient than usual suggestion of taking that time. That or she was _very_ bothered by their filthy condition, Pidge thought, amused.

"Go on." Shiro confirmed with a smile. He stopped Keith with a shoulder-clasp as they made to do so though. "I'm glad you're all right, Keith." he said softly.

Keith smiled slightly, bowing his head, and Shiro let him go again.

Keith caught up with Pidge, wrapping an arm around her shoulders as they headed back to their shared room together. Pidge leaned against him companionably, relieved to have him back to himself and feeling a little weak now that the anxiety she'd hadn't realised she was feeling so strongly was gone.

* * *

I suspect Keith's armour is so wrecked when Pidge's is only battered and lightly cracked because Keith may have lunged to take the brunt of the rockslide they were trapped by, in addition to battle damage. (Or lunged in an attempt to get them both out of it before they were trapped.)


End file.
